Telecommunications systems generally include connection and disconnection systems, through which various types of telecommunications equipment are interconnected. Such systems generally require electrical protection, such as to prevent overvoltage and overcurrent events from damaging equipment, as can occur in the case of lightning strikes, power surges, or other electrical events. Various types of gas tube and solid state overvoltage protection components exist and are used in these telecommunications systems.
In large telecommunications systems, protection blocks are used to ensure that overvoltage or overcurrent events do not damage telecommunications circuits. These protection blocks receive individual protection elements, which plug into the block to protect individual circuits. Existing protection devices include 5-pin voltage protection devices that include solid state or gas tube overvoltage protection for telecommunications circuitry. These existing devices are inserted into a 5-pin protection block in a 100-element array, resulting in a protection block that is approximately 7.9 inches by approximately 5.8 inches in size (and can be of a variety of depths). This dimension is known for use in a protection block known as a “307 block”, which is used in telecommunications cabinets and other arrangements for mounting purposes. When used in existing telecommunications systems, a large number of these blocks are used, to protect a large number of signal lines.
In certain systems, a piece of equipment used for connection of telecommunications systems is referred to herein as a connection block, sometimes referred to as a “Krone-style connector block”, such as those manufactured by ADC GmbH, formerly Krone GmbH. These connection blocks provide an array of punch-down connection locations useable for individual wire pairs, and include circuit protection locations in a single linear array. However, because Krone-style connector blocks include circuit protection locations along the array of punch-down connection locations, they are not space-efficient circuit protection devices for large signal arrays in large, high density telecommunications systems.